The proliferation of wireless communication devices enables a variety of wireless communication. Wireless communication devices can communicate with communication networks, however, access to information on a communication network depends on the connection of the wireless device to the communication network, and when a wireless device is highly mobile, in particular in an area with limited wireless network coverage, access to the communication network can be lost. Loss of a network connection during the reception of information from a communication network can result in loss of information.
Overview
In an embodiment, a location, a type of application, and a probability of transition to a no-coverage area are determined for each of a plurality of wireless devices in communication with an access node. A collaborative group of wireless devices which have requested a data stream are selected from among the plurality of wireless devices based on the location, the type of application, and the probability of transition to a no-coverage area. A first portion of the data stream is sent to each wireless device in the collaborative group to synchronize the requested data stream, and at least one additional portion of the data stream is sent to each wireless device in the collaborative group, where a number of the at least one additional portions sent to each wireless device is based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) assigned to each wireless device in the collaborative group. A mapping table is broadcast to the wireless devices in the collaborative group, and the wireless devices of the collaborative group exchange the additional portions of the data stream according to the mapping table when the collaborative group transitions to the no-coverage area.